


Mistletoe

by orphan_account



Series: Christmas 2015 Song Prompts [16]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Parties, Christmas Prompts 2015, F/M, Tugboat Ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 05:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5404646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having only been here a little while, Rapunzel isn't fully aware of all of Storybrooke's strange Christmas customs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Have a Holly Jolly Christmas  & Fire Braids. BECAUSE THIS SHIP NEEDS TO BE A THING.

_Ho, ho, the mistletoe_

_Hung where you can see._

_Somebody waits for you,_

_Kiss her once for me._

They didn't have Christmas in the Enchanted Forest. They had a Winter Solstice celebration, but it was nothing like this: nothing like those strings of pretty lights that look like magic but Neal had insisted was just "electricity" (which, Rapunzel remembers, is light that comes from wires not from fire). Nothing like those picture shows on the box Aurora calls the "Devil machine" that sing the pretty songs and looks nothing like real people or even like a decent painting.

It's nothing like this party full of loud music and people chattering at individual tables and embracing one another. It's Rapunzel's first Christmas in this strange world and she likes it.

Even if she doesn't recognize too many people here. The Witch's curse had taken her kingdom along with the others to Storybrooke, but after living in the tower for all those years, Rapunzel hardly had anybody from there who she could call a friend. Except for the people she's met since she's been here, sitting around and enjoying the meal with their families. It's all so exciting and jovial and lacks any sort of the usual sobriety of knowing the rest of the winter was still to come that usually came about in solstice celebrations.

"Hey, Rapunzel…"

Hearing her name, she turned around to see Neal shuffling over to her with his hands in his pockets. The wave was almost reflexive, although Rapunzel had to cringe at the eagerness of her hand. She couldn't help it, he was one of the few people who, while consumed in the never-ending sieges of Storybrooke, had taken the time to get to know her. Despite the rocky beginning when he'd mistaken Rapunzel's apartment for his, when they divvied up the town among new residents, and she'd almost whacked him upside the head with a frying pan.

But at least they'd had a story to tell Henry when he started to ask questions with that peculiar look on his face.

"Neal!" Rapunzel nodded to regain whatever composure her overzealous hand had given her. "How are you? Enjoying the party?"

"Yeah," Neal grinned that warm grin of his that went all the way to his eyes and made them wrinkled. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Um, I just wanted to let you know...there's a tradition in this world," He smiled, and it almost looked nervous. Like the first time Neal stopped by the salon and found out the woman who almost hit him with a frying pan was going to get near his ears with a pair of sharp shears. "See that plant you're standing under?"

"The one on the doorway?"

"Yeah. That one. It's called mistletoe. The custom here is that, if two people are standing under it together, they have to kiss so, unless-"

"We're standing under it." Rapunzel noted, interruption predominantly unintentional.

"Well, yeah," Neal said turning red. "But unless you want-"

  
"I think I like this tradition," Rapunzel said, taking a firm hold on either side of Neal's collar and tugged him in. She was aiming for his cheek, but he tilted his head in the flash of a moment. Their lips touched and it was warm and clear and bright and any confusion from curses or foes around Storybrooke seemed to lift for a moment. All at once, everything was different and Rapunzel decided, rather abruptly, that she liked Christmas festivities far more than the more familiar Winter Solstice feasts.


End file.
